Show and not tell is the topic of today’s exercise. The words you use can set a scene firmly into a time frame. Buzz words from a generation, fashions, even a menu, can all play a role in showing your story to the reader without constantly having to remind them of the date.

This morning, write a scene where one of your characters goes out on a date. Set this in a contemporary time-period. Put a ring around the words that show, rather than tell, your readers that this is set in the “now”. Next change these words and place the scene in the 1970s.

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